One response by the Manitoba Government to STI/HIV rates among its youth has been the support of a Youth Health Education Service named Teen Talk. Teen Talk has developed two programs, the Workshops for Youth Program and the Peer Support Program. In this mixed methods research study, the barriers and facilitators to implementing the Peer Support Program (PS) beyond the limits of the City of Winnipeg and the impact of the PS training on its participants were documented. The results were organized into categories and diagrams were created. It was concluded that in order for the PS training to best meet the needs of its rural and northern participants, Teen Talk needs to become a part of larger community wide initiatives. Within Teen Talk a paradigm shift needs to occur where rural and northern training sessions are acknowledged as separate entities and appropriate financial and human resources are allocated.

In the midst of the chaos and violence of civil-ethnic conflict, there is often little attention paid to the economic consequences which endure long past the moment of crisis. In conflicts that end in situations of prolonged occupation of one national group over another, complex and enduring dependencies develop between occupier and occupied. Since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Palestinian economy has grown highly dependent upon the Israeli economy and has developed within the confines of Israeli military power. When the second Palestinian Intifada broke out in September 2000, the Palestinian economy suffered further. This paper discusses the Palestinian economy through the framework of dependency theory and world-systems analysis. Both theories are used to explain the complex relationship between Israel and the Palestinians and the relationship of dependence that has been perpetuated by Israel since the signing of the Oslo Agreement in 1993.

This thesis examines the evolution of archival theory in light of the ascendance of human rights in Western society. Archives are situated as integral instruments in the protection of human rights within a Western context due to the European preference towards written evidence and bureaucratic systems. The thesis uses a negative case study to demonstrate the power of the record in affecting the human rights of citizens, but also situates access to the government archive among human rights.

A 3D wavelet based encoding spectroscopic method (WE-SI) is investigated and implemented on a 3 Tesla Siemens Scanner. Compared to CSI, the proposed method is able to reduce acquisition time, and preserves the spatial metabolite distribution. As expected, a decrease in Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) is noticed in WE-SI data compared to CSI. The dissertation explores important physical principles in MRI and spectroscopic imaging as a background, following by introduction of the wavelet encoding theory and comparison to Fourier encoding.

This study uses content analysis of newspaper articles and athlete biographical/autobiographical sources to examine the constructions of masculinity of male and female athletes at the 2008 Paralympic Summer Games in Beijing, China. Based on the socially constructed tension between disability and masculinity and the connections between sport and masculinity, this study sought examples that support or challenge the portrayal of Paralympic athletes in hegemonic masculine terms. This study finds that in the majority of cases, both sets of data sources reflects and/or reinforces the association between sport and hegemonic masculinity. This public display of masculinity indicates the athletes’ attempt to attain mainstream acceptance and legitimacy as “real” athletes as much as it does a rejection of a collective disability identity. The few instances of rejection and reformulation of masculinity come from examples in which the realities of living with impairments are insurmountable barriers to attaining hegemonic masculinity.

Specific bacterial commensals demonstrating multidrug resistance (MDR) are opportunistic pathogens for immunocompromised patients, including Corynebacterium species (spp.). Severe infections due to MDR corynebacteria are being increasingly reported where several MDR phenotypes have been described. One such phenotype, the macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B phenotype (MLSB), is characterized by high-level resistance to macrolides, lincosamides, and streptogramin B. Resistance is thought to be attributable to acquisition of the ermX gene, a methyltransferase that alters the ribosomal macrolide binding site. Until recently, ermX had been reported in only six Corynebacterium spp. We have observed other corynebacteria can also display high-level resistance to MLSB antimicrobials and are ermX positive. Hypotheses being tested include: 1) high-level macrolide and lincosamide resistance in Corynebacterium spp. is caused by acquiring ermX; 2) distribution of ermX is more widespread than previously published; 3) ermX is associated with transposon Tn5432; 4) multidrug resistance has spread to Canadian C. afermentans and C. aurimucosum strains.

Mobility plays an important role in determining quality of life in older adults as it is closely tied to health, participation, and independence in later years. Although much of the literature to date has focused on walking and stair climbing, mobility also encompasses driving and the use of public transportation to access the community. Comprehensive definitions of mobility and techniques for objectively measuring community mobility are generally lacking. This thesis describes a new theoretical framework for mobility that illustrates how impairments can lead to limitations in accessing different life-spaces, and stresses the associations among determinants that influence mobility. The feasibility of using global positioning system (GPS) watches and accelerometers to monitor community mobility in older adults was also examined. Data acquired from the equipment were quite variable. While the technology offers promise for capturing detailed information (e.g., the timing, distances covered, and speeds reached on foot and in-vehicle), new GPS solutions are required to allow for data collection over an extended period of time. In addition, projects were conducted to examine ankle strength and power in older women because these muscle groups are important for physical function and mobility. Test-retest reliability on the dynamometer was found to be generally good for isotonic and isokinetic tests, but relatively poor for isometric rate of torque development. Measures of dorsiflexion (DF) and plantar flexion (PF) strength and power-related variables were significantly correlated with functional performance (gait speed, stair climb power, and foot movement time). An intervention study was conducted to determine the effects of ankle DF and PF resistance training performed concentrically “as fast as possible” on movement time in a brake response task. Power training with elastic bands resulted in the greatest reduction in movement time, which suggests that this low-cost, practical form of exercise may benefit older adults in circumstances when rapid generation of ankle torque is required. This thesis adds to the literature by examining mobility from a number of perspectives. Mobility determinants are comprehensively defined, community and laboratory-based measures are examined, and the effects of an intervention are evaluated to improve mobility assessment and treatment techniques in older adults.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), comprises Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), and is a chronic relapsing inflammation of gastrointestinal tract without any known cause or cure. Currently, it is accepted that IBD is a result of a dysfunctional immune response to commensal bacteria in a genetically susceptible host, and that environmental factors can trigger the onset or reactivation of the disease. This thesis considers the possibility of a specific pathogenic agent as well as an imbalance in the composition of the normal microflora in the pathogenesis of IBD. Gut biopsy tissues were taken from a population-based case-control tissue bank held at the University of Manitoba. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (ARISA) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLP) were employed to assess the diversity of gut microbiota. The phylogenetic, virulence and biochemical characteristics of Escherichia coli isolated from IBD biopsies were examined using multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), DNA microarray technology and API 20E system. Utilizing ARISA and T-RFLP, a remarkable increase in the order of unclassified Clostridia was detected in inflamed tissues, particularly in CD patients (P < 0.05). Moreover, species richness and diversity were the highest in non-inflamed IBD biopsies. Culture-based quantification detected a significantly higher number of E. coli in IBD tissues (P < 0.05). Phylogenetic analysis revealed the tendency of E. coli isolated from IBD patients to be grouped into separate clonal clusters based on their allelic profiles (P = 0.02). A link was detected between uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) CFT073 and strains isolated from IBD, with regards to gene distribution and virulence, using microarray technology. Amino acid substitutions N91S and S99N in FimH, the adhesive subunit of E. coli type I fimbria, were significantly associated to IBD (P < 0.05). This study demonstrated an increase in the microbial diversity of non-inflamed IBD tissues and suggested a recruitment phase of bacterial adherence and colonization, before the inflammation sets in. Furthermore, E. coli isolated from IBD tissues were distinct from commensal strains in both clonal and virulence characteristics and shared remarkable traits with extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli. Features involved in bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells may hold the key to E. coli pathogenesis in IBD.

Administrative data was anonymously linked to a clinical registry, to evaluate the validity of diabetes algorithms in youth. In addition, incident youth with T2DM (n=342) in Manitoba (1-18 years) from Jan.1986-2009 identified from the clinical registry were anonymously linked to healthcare records in order to evaluate complications, compared to youth with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) (n=1011) and non-diabetes (non-DM) controls (n=1710). The algorithm including 1 or more hospitalizations or two or more outpatient claims over two years was the most valid. Youth with T2DM had a 47% increased risk of any complication and a 2.29 fold increased risk of renal complication. Age at diagnosis, HgA1c and ace inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blocker use (ACE/ARB) were significant risk factors for any complication. Risk factors for renal complications included ACE/ARB use, albuminuria and diagnosis prior to 2000. Survival at 10 years was 91.4% (T2DM) vs. 99.5% (T1DM) vs. 100% (non-DM); p<0.0001.

This thesis is about Cree people who many refer to themselves as Ininew and whose original language is Ininewin. The main focus of this thesis is to generate dialogue on the colonial legacies that affect the Ininewak at Pimicikamak today in the area of community governance and the community’s creative responses to colonialism. First this paper provides a synopsis of the colonial history of Pimicikamak, making reference to the First Written Law (Pimicikamak Okimawin Onasowewin) and how this is a step forward to decolonization. Pimicikamak Nation`s government is recently new. It empowers the four councils: the Elders Council, Women’s Council, Youth Council, and Executive Council to make and amend laws as direction from its citizens. Modern written Pimicikamak customary law is subject to acceptance by consensus of a general assembly of the Pimicikamak public. This thesis will also discuss methods of the current colonial-derived governance system to provide a critique of the mechanisms that continue to raise havoc on Indigenous peoples. As well, this thesis will discuss the concepts of self-governance and suggest that in order to decolonize and liberate Indigenous people from the colonial entrapment that binds them to a governance system foreign to their own, there must be a committed, intellectual awareness and comprehension of the roots that continue to undermine Indigenous peoples, including Pimicikamak. This awareness is needed to visualize and comprehend centuries of systematic displacement and to acknowledge that the current colonial system still represents its history.